


Weird-dar on High Alert

by htbthomas



Category: Community (TV), Smallville
Genre: Birthday Fic Challenge 2017, Community season 2, Crossover, Episode: s02e24 A Few Paintballs More, Gen, Paintball, SV season 10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 14:17:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10114085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/pseuds/htbthomas
Summary: There's something odd going on in Greendale. But Chloe picked the wrong day to check it out.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [myrifique](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myrifique/gifts).



> [Birthday fic](http://htbthomas.tumblr.com/post/157360457789/birthday-fic-challenge-2017-back-in-2005-i) for lookupatthesky/Myrifique! Her prompt was: "write me the community peeps meeting the smallville people! Any of them!"

Chloe ducks behind a concrete trash bin, her heart pounding. It's been a long time since she stepped foot on a college campus, but it's not much like she remembers. It _is_ a lot like high school, though.

Not because of the layout of the campus. Because of the weird.

Something zings past her ear and splats against the wall, bright and neon green. She turns to look at it, fingers twitching to touch it, to examine it. It's too dangerous. It's not kryptonite, just paint. But if she gets tagged before she gets to the bottom of things, she might as well go back to Metropolis right now.

It's been a long time since she's been out in the field, too. Maybe she should have sent Clark, with his speed, or Oliver, with his accuracy. But no, it was just supposed to be a quick look around. How could she have known she'd need a paintball gun?

She pulls out her Watchtower phone and hits speed dial for Clark. Time for back-up.

Before it connects, she hears a "Psst!" from off to the right. "You! Turn around slowly."

Crap. Chloe lifts her hands and swivels slowly to face the voice. Hiding behind a pillar opposite is a young woman about her age, dressed in a Western-style get-up with blonde pigtails. She's aiming a couple of pistols at Chloe, one in each hand. "Don't shoot me," Chloe pleads. "I'm unarmed."

Pigtails gestures with a pistol. "What are you doing with that, then?"

Chloe frowns. "My phone?" She lowers it to the ground, screen up. The call has connected. She hopes Clark stays on the line. "Just calling for help, honestly," she admits.

Pigtails' eyes narrow. "From your City College buddies?"

"My wha—?" There's more than one college in this sleepy Colorado town? "No, no, I don't go to college anymore. I'm just visiting, I swear."

"Wrong day to be visiting," Pigtails says with a bitter laugh. A couple more paintballs sail over their heads and they both duck.

"You're telling me," she agrees. She glances around at the parts of campus that she can see from around the trash can. Despite her algorithm pointing her to this place, it had seemed pretty normal—until the paintballs started flying. And now her weird-dar is on high alert. "Is it always like this around here?" She may be trapped by a student, but she'll be damned if she isn't going to use her resources.

Pigtails tilts her head. "Like what?"

"Crazy. Weird." Looks like this place could give Smallville a run for its money.

She shrugs, her hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Only a couple of times a year. I'm used to it now."

Hmm. This place could be a hotbed of metahuman activity. Or contain a doorway to an alternate dimension. "What else has happened?"

"Mmm... there was the chicken finger mafia, the zombie infection, the space bus, the massive blanket fort..."

Or maybe there's some sort of mind-altering chemical in the water here. She tries to remember. Did she drink any?

"But most of the time," Pigtails continues, "It's just class as usual. Except when Dean Pelton gets one of his 'ideas.'"

There's yelling on the other side of the quad, and they both hunker down to avoid being seen. While Pigtails is sneaking a look around the pillar, Chloe's phone screen flashes to show the call has ended. She hopes it means Clark is on his way. With paintball gear if she's lucky.

"I'm Britta, by the way," the young woman tells her, the distrust in her voice fading. 

"Chloe," she says. "Do you think there's any safe way off campus?"

"Without getting decorated in paint?" Britta says with a smirk. "Not likely. I can try covering you if you make a break for those trees over there..."

Suddenly there's a rush of motion and sound, and Chloe finds herself in a parking lot on the far side of campus. Clark sets her down, looking her over for any signs of injury. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She turns to look at the campus. It's a war zone, even from here. She hopes Britta makes it out okay. "Not sure about that place, though."

He spends a moment scanning the area, and his eyebrows go up. "Is the whole campus really playing… Paintball Assassin?"

"Somehow, yes." Are they under the influence of something otherworldly, or just… in their own little world? Hard to tell. "Think I'm going to have to come back tomorrow—when this is all over—to do more research. Wouldn't mind some back up if that's okay with you?"

Clark shrugs. "As long as Metropolis avoids another alien invasion," he jokes, "I should be good."

"Thanks." First on her list will be to check on Britta. But after that? Might be a good idea to look into this 'Dean Pelton.'


End file.
